TED2014
Elizabeth Gilbert: Success, failure and the drive to keep creating
Elizabet Gilbert (Elizabeth Gilbert): Uspeh, neuspeh i stvaralački nagon
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Elizabet Gilbert je nekada bila konobarica bez ijedne objavljene knjige, koju su izdavači stalno odbijali. Ipak, kada je ostvarila uspeh sa knjigom "Jedi, moli, voli" shvatila je da se i dalje poistovećuje sa sobom iz prošlosti. Gilbertova se osvrće na to kako uspeh može da nas skrene sa puta isto kao i poraz i nudi nam rešenje za oba ishoda koje je jednostavno ali i teško.
Elizabeth Gilbert - Writer
The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both. Full bio
The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
So, a few years ago I was at JFK Airport
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Pre nekoliko godina, na aerodromu Kenedi
00:15
about to get on a flight,
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čekala sam ukrcavanje na avion
00:17
when I was approached by two women
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kada su mi prišle dve žene
00:19
who I do not think would be insulted
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i mislim da se ne bi uvredile
00:21
to hear themselves described
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kada bih ih opisala kao dve omalene,
00:22
as tiny old tough-talking Italian-American broads.
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starije Amerikanke italijanskog porekla
i oštrog jezika.
i oštrog jezika.
00:26
The taller one, who is like up here,
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Ona viša rastom, visoka otprilike dovde,
00:29
she comes marching up to me, and she goes,
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prilazi mi brzim korakom i kaže:
00:31
"Honey, I gotta ask you something.
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"Draga, moram nešto da te pitam.
00:33
You got something to do with that whole
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Ti imaš nekakve veze sa onim
00:35
'Eat, Pray, Love' thing that's been going on lately?"
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"Jedi, moli, voli" o čemu svi pričaju?"
00:38
And I said, "Yes, I did."
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I ja joj kažem: "Da."
00:40
And she smacks her friend and she goes,
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A ona tresne svoju drugaricu i kaže:
00:42
"See, I told you, I said, that's that girl.
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"Vidiš, jesam li ti rekla da je to ona!
00:44
That's that girl who wrote that book
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To je ta cura što je napisala onu knjigu
00:46
based on that movie."
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zasnovanu na onom filmu."
00:48
(Laughter)
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(Smeh)
00:50
So that's who I am.
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I eto to sam ja.
00:52
And believe me, I'm extremely
grateful to be that person,
grateful to be that person,
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Verujte mi, izuzetno mi je drago
što sam to baš ja,
što sam to baš ja,
00:56
because that whole "Eat, Pray, Love" thing
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zato što "Jedi, moli, voli"
00:58
was a huge break for me.
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za mene predstavlja veliki preokret.
01:00
But it also left me in a really tricky position
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Osim toga, našla sam se
u nezgodnom položaju
u nezgodnom položaju
01:02
moving forward as an author
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kao pisac koji treba da nastavi da piše
01:04
trying to figure out how in the world
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i pokušava da shvati kako, zaboga,
01:06
I was ever going to write a book again
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da napiše novu knjigu
01:07
that would ever please anybody,
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koja će zadovoljiti bilo koga
01:09
because I knew well in advance
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jer sam unapred dobro znala
01:11
that all of those people who
had adored "Eat, Pray, Love"
had adored "Eat, Pray, Love"
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da će svi koji su obožavali
"Jedi, moli, voli"
"Jedi, moli, voli"
01:14
were going to be incredibly disappointed
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biti užasno razočarani
01:15
in whatever I wrote next
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bilo čime što napišem posle te knjige
01:17
because it wasn't going to be "Eat, Pray, Love,"
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jer to neće biti "Jedi, moli, voli"
01:19
and all of those people who
had hated "Eat, Pray, Love"
had hated "Eat, Pray, Love"
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i svi oni kojima se knjiga nije dopala
01:21
were going to be incredibly disappointed
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biće užasno razočarani
01:22
in whatever I wrote next
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bilo čime što napišem posle te knjige
01:24
because it would provide evidence that I still lived.
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jer bi to bio dokaz da sam još uvek živa.
01:26
So I knew that I had no way to win,
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I tako sam znala
da sam svakako na gubitku.
da sam svakako na gubitku.
01:30
and knowing that I had no way to win
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I znajući da sam svakako na gubitku,
01:32
made me seriously consider for a while
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ozbiljno sam razmišljala o tome
01:34
just quitting the game
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da prosto odustanem od svega
01:35
and moving to the country to raise corgis.
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i odem da živim na selu i gajim pse.
01:39
But if I had done that, if I had given up writing,
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Ali, da sam uradila to,
da sam odustala od pisanja,
da sam odustala od pisanja,
01:41
I would have lost my beloved vocation,
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izgubila bih svoj voljeni poziv
01:43
so I knew that the task was that I had to find
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i znala sam da moram
01:45
some way to gin up the inspiration
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da pronađem inspiraciju
01:48
to write the next book
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da napišem sledeću knjigu
01:49
regardless of its inevitable negative outcome.
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bez obzira što će ona doživeti neuspeh.
01:52
In other words, I had to find a way to make sure
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Drugim rečima, da pronađem način
01:53
that my creativity survived its own success.
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da moja kreativnost
preživi svoj vlastiti uspeh.
preživi svoj vlastiti uspeh.
01:56
And I did, in the end, find that inspiration,
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I na kraju sam pronašla inspiraciju,
01:58
but I found it in the most unlikely
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i to na mestu gde biste je
02:00
and unexpected place.
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najmanje očekivali.
02:01
I found it in lessons that I had learned earlier in life
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Pronašla sam je u svom starom iskustvu
02:04
about how creativity can survive its own failure.
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kada je moja kreativnost
opstala uprkos porazima.
opstala uprkos porazima.
02:08
So just to back up and explain,
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Da se vratimo malo u prošlost,
02:09
the only thing I have ever wanted to be
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sve što sam oduvek želela da postanem,
02:11
for my whole life was a writer.
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od kako znam za sebe, je pisac.
02:13
I wrote all through childhood,
all through adolescence,
all through adolescence,
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Bavila sam se pisanjem kao dete
i mlada devojka.
i mlada devojka.
02:15
by the time I was a teenager I was sending
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Već kao tinejdžerka sam slala
02:17
my very bad stories to The New Yorker,
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svoje loše priče magazinu Njujorker
02:19
hoping to be discovered.
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u nadi da će me otkriti kao pisca.
02:20
After college, I got a job as a diner waitress,
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Posle koledža sam dobila
posao konobarice,
posao konobarice,
02:23
kept working, kept writing,
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nastavila sam da radim i pišem
02:25
kept trying really hard to get published,
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i zaista se trudila
da objavim svoje radove
da objavim svoje radove
02:27
and failing at it.
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i doživljavala neuspehe.
02:29
I failed at getting published
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Nisam ništa uspela da objavim
02:30
for almost six years.
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skoro šest godina.
02:32
So for almost six years, every single day,
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Skoro šest godina, baš svaki dan
02:34
I had nothing but rejection letters
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nalazila sam samo negativne odgovore
02:35
waiting for me in my mailbox.
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u svom poštanskom sandučetu.
02:37
And it was devastating every single time,
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I svaki put je bilo poražavajuće,
02:39
and every single time, I had to ask myself
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i svaki put sam se zapitala
02:41
if I should just quit while I was behind
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da li je bolje da odustanem na vreme
02:43
and give up and spare myself this pain.
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i poštedim sebe ove patnje.
02:47
But then I would find my resolve,
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Ali onda bih otkrila novu odlučnost
i svaki put na isti način,
i svaki put na isti način,
02:48
and always in the same way,
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02:50
by saying, "I'm not going to quit,
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govoreći sebi: "Neću odustati,
02:52
I'm going home."
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otići ću kući."
02:54
And you have to understand that for me,
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A za mene odlazak kući
02:55
going home did not mean
returning to my family's farm.
returning to my family's farm.
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nije značio povratak na porodičnu farmu.
02:58
For me, going home
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Za mene je odlazak kući
03:00
meant returning to the work of writing
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bio povratak pisanju
03:01
because writing was my home,
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jer pisanje je moj dom zato što ga volim
03:03
because I loved writing more
than I hated failing at writing,
than I hated failing at writing,
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više nego što mrzim svoje neuspehe,
03:06
which is to say that I loved writing
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što znači da volim da pišem
03:08
more than I loved my own ego,
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više nego što volim svoj ego,
03:09
which is ultimately to say
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i što konačno znači da volim da pišem
03:11
that I loved writing more than I loved myself.
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više nego što volim sebe.
03:13
And that's how I pushed through it.
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I tako sam to pregurala.
03:15
But the weird thing is that 20 years later,
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Ali čudno je to da posle dvadeset godina
03:17
during the crazy ride of "Eat, Pray, Love,"
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kroz ludnicu sa knjigom "Jedi, moli, voli",
03:19
I found myself identifying all over again
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shvatila sam da se ponovo osećam
03:21
with that unpublished young diner waitress
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kao ona mlada neuspešna konobarica
03:24
who I used to be, thinking about her constantly,
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koja sam nekada bila,
stalno sam mislila na nju
stalno sam mislila na nju
03:26
and feeling like I was her again,
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i činilo mi se da sam ponovo ona,
03:28
which made no rational sense whatsoever
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što je bilo besmisleno
03:30
because our lives could not
have been more different.
have been more different.
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jer smo bile u potpunosti različite.
03:32
She had failed constantly.
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Ona je nizala neuspehe.
03:33
I had succeeded beyond my wildest expectation.
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Ja sam doživela vrtoglavi uspeh.
03:36
We had nothing in common.
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Nismo imale ništa zajedničko.
03:37
Why did I suddenly feel like I was her all over again?
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Zašto sam se onda ponovo osećala kao ona?
03:40
And it was only when I was trying to unthread that
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I tek kada sam pokušavala to da razmrsim,
03:43
that I finally began to comprehend
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počela sam da razumevam
03:44
the strange and unlikely psychological connection
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tu neobičnu i neverovatnu psihološku vezu
03:47
in our lives between the way
we experience great failure
we experience great failure
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između načina na koji doživljavamo
03:49
and the way we experience great success.
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veliki poraz i veliki uspeh u životu.
03:51
So think of it like this:
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Zamislite to ovako:
03:53
For most of your life, you live out your existence
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najveći deo svog života,
03:55
here in the middle of the chain of human experience
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živite negde na sredini ljudskog iskustva
03:57
where everything is normal
and reassuring and regular,
and reassuring and regular,
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gde je sve normalno, spokojno i obično
04:00
but failure catapults you abruptly way out over here
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ali neuspeh vas naglo baca čak ovamo
04:04
into the blinding darkness of disappointment.
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u mrkli mrak razočaranja.
04:06
Success catapults you just as abruptly but just as far
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Uspeh vas baca isto tako naglo i daleko
04:10
way out over here
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sve dovde
04:11
into the equally blinding glare
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u zaslepljujući blesak
04:13
of fame and recognition and praise.
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slave, priznanja i hvale.
04:16
And one of these fates
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Jedan od ova dva ishoda
04:17
is objectively seen by the world as bad,
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svet objektivno sagledava kao loš,
04:20
and the other one is objectively
seen by the world as good,
seen by the world as good,
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a drugi kao dobar,
04:22
but your subconscious is completely incapable
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ali naša podsvest nije u stanju
04:24
of discerning the difference between bad and good.
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da oseti tu razliku između dobrog i lošeg.
04:27
The only thing that it is capable of feeling
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Sve što je ona u stanju da oseti
04:29
is the absolute value of this emotional equation,
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jeste apsolutna vrednost tih emocija,
04:33
the exact distance that you have been flung
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daljina do koje ste bačeni
04:35
from yourself.
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daleko od sebe samog.
04:37
And there's a real equal danger in both cases
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U oba slučaja postoji jednaka opasnost
04:39
of getting lost out there
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da se izgubite tamo negde
04:40
in the hinterlands of the psyche.
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u zaleđu svoje duše.
04:42
But in both cases, it turns out that there is
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Ali u oba slučaja, izgleda da postoji
04:44
also the same remedy for self-restoration,
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isti lek kojim možete pomoći sebi,
04:47
and that is that you have got to
find your way back home again
find your way back home again
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a to je da ponovo pronađete
put do svog doma
put do svog doma
04:50
as swiftly and smoothly as you can,
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što je brže i lakše moguće,
04:52
and if you're wondering what your home is,
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a ako se pitate gde je vaš dom
04:54
here's a hint:
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možda će vam ovo pomoći:
04:55
Your home is whatever in this world you love
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vaš dom je tamo gde se nalazi
04:57
more than you love yourself.
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ono što volite više nego sebe.
04:59
So that might be creativity, it might be family,
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To je možda vaša kreativnost ili porodica,
05:01
it might be invention, adventure,
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možda pronalasci ili avanture,
05:03
faith, service, it might be raising corgis,
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vaša vera, vaš posao ili možda uzgoj pasa
05:06
I don't know, your home is that thing
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vaš dom je ono
05:08
to which you can dedicate your energies
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čemu možete da posvetite svoju energiju
05:10
with such singular devotion
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sa takvom odanošću
05:12
that the ultimate results become inconsequential.
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da dobar rezultat ne može izostati.
05:15
For me, that home has always been writing.
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Moj dom je oduvek bilo pisanje.
05:18
So after the weird, disorienting success
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Tako sam posle čudnog i vrtoglavog uspeha
05:20
that I went through with "Eat, Pray, Love,"
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knjige "Jedi, moli, voli"
05:22
I realized that all I had to do was exactly
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shvatila da moram da uradim
05:23
the same thing that I used to have to do all the time
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isto što sam radila svaki put
05:25
when I was an equally disoriented failure.
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kada sam bila izgubljena zbog neuspeha.
05:27
I had to get my ass back to work,
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Moram da prionem na posao,
05:29
and that's what I did, and that's how, in 2010,
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to sam i uradila, i tako sam 2010. godine
05:32
I was able to publish the dreaded follow-up
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objavila nastavak knjige
"Jedi, moli, voli"
"Jedi, moli, voli"
koga sam se toliko pribojavala.
05:34
to "Eat, Pray, Love."
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05:35
And you know what happened with that book?
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I znate šta se desilo sa tom knjigom?
05:37
It bombed, and I was fine.
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Doživela je neuspeh,
ali ja sam bila dobro.
ali ja sam bila dobro.
05:39
Actually, I kind of felt bulletproof,
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Zapravo, osećala sam se otpornom
05:41
because I knew that I had broken the spell
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jer sam znala da sam razbila čini
05:43
and I had found my way back home
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i da sam se vratila svom domu,
05:45
to writing for the sheer devotion of it.
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svom pisanju kome sam ostala odana.
05:48
And I stayed in my home of writing after that,
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I posle toga sam ostala u svom domu
05:50
and I wrote another book that just came out last year
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i objavila još jednu knjigu prošle godine,
05:51
and that one was really beautifully received,
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a ona je naišla na topao prijem
05:53
which is very nice, but not my point.
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što je zaista lepo,
ali to nije poenta.
ali to nije poenta.
05:55
My point is that I'm writing another one now,
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Poenta je u tome da trenutno
pišem još jednu knjigu
pišem još jednu knjigu
05:57
and I'll write another book after that
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i da ću posle nje napisati još jednu
i još jednu...
i još jednu...
05:58
and another and another and another
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i mnoge od njih neće doživeti uspeh,
a neke će možda biti uspešne
a neke će možda biti uspešne
06:00
and many of them will fail,
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06:01
and some of them might succeed,
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06:03
but I will always be safe
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ali ja ću uvek biti na sigurnom
06:04
from the random hurricanes of outcome
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od uragana koje donose uspesi i neuspesi
06:07
as long as I never forget where I rightfully live.
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sve dok imam na umu
gde ja zaista pripadam.
gde ja zaista pripadam.
06:10
Look, I don't know where you rightfully live,
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Ja ne znam gde vi zaista pripadate
06:13
but I know that there's something in this world
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ali znam da postoji nešto na ovom svetu
06:14
that you love more than you love yourself.
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što volite više nego sebe.
06:16
Something worthy, by the way,
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Nešto što je dostojno ljubavi,
06:18
so addiction and infatuation don't count,
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zavisnost ili zanesenost se ne računaju
06:20
because we all know that those
are not safe places to live. Right?
are not safe places to live. Right?
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jer svi znamo da oni
nisu bezbedni za nas.
nisu bezbedni za nas.
06:24
The only trick is that you've got to identify
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Trik je u tome da otkrijete šta je to
06:26
the best, worthiest thing that you love most,
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najbolje, najvrednije, što najviše volite
06:28
and then build your house right on top of it
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i na tome sagradite svoj dom
06:31
and don't budge from it.
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i ne mrdajte iz njega.
06:33
And if you should someday, somehow
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A ako vas nekada nešto
06:35
get vaulted out of your home
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istera iz vašeg doma,
06:37
by either great failure or great success,
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bio to veliki uspeh ili veliki poraz,
06:39
then your job is to fight your
way back to that home
way back to that home
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borite se da nađete svoj put nazad
06:42
the only way that it has ever been done,
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na jedini mogući način,
06:43
by putting your head down and performing
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pognite glavu i radite,
06:46
with diligence and devotion
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radite vredno i istrajno,
06:47
and respect and reverence
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sa poštovanjem
06:49
whatever the task is that love
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radite na onome što ta ljubav
06:51
is calling forth from you next.
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od vas traži.
06:53
You just do that, and keep doing that
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Samo radite na tome i nastavite tako
06:55
again and again and again,
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još, još i još
06:57
and I can absolutely promise you,
from long personal experience
from long personal experience
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i garantujem vam, iz svog dugog iskustva,
07:00
in every direction, I can assure you
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uveravam vas
07:02
that it's all going to be okay.
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da će sve biti dobro.
07:04
Thank you.
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Hvala vam.
07:06
(Applause)
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(Aplauz)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Elizabeth Gilbert - WriterThe author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both.
Why you should listen
Elizabeth Gilbert faced down a premidlife crisis by doing what we all secretly dream of -- running off for a year. Her travels through Italy, India and Indonesia resulted in the megabestselling and deeply beloved memoir Eat, Pray, Love, about her process of finding herself by leaving home.
She's a longtime magazine writer -- covering music and politics for Spin and GQ -- as well as a novelist and short-story writer. Her books include the story collection Pilgrims, the novel Stern Men (about lobster fishermen in Maine) and a biography of the woodsman Eustace Conway, called The Last American Man. Her work has been the basis for two movies so far (Coyote Ugly, based on her own tale of working at the famously raunchy bar in New York City), and Eat, Pray, Love, with the part of Gilbert played by Julia Roberts. Not bad for a year off.
In 2010, Elizabeth published Committed, a memoir exploring her ambivalent feelings about the institution of marriage. And her 2013 novel, The Signature of All Things, is "a sprawling tale of 19th century botanical exploration."
Gilbert also owns and runs the import shop Two Buttons in Frenchtown, New Jersey.
Elizabeth Gilbert | Speaker | TED.com